Other well-known nonprofits such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore.; Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, among many others, have also had to undergo cost-cutting measures, layoffs and large-scale fundraising campaigns.
“I think over the next six months, you’re gonna see a whole lot more than what we’ve already seen,” said Danny Feldman, producing artistic director at the Pasadena Playhouse. While some theaters employ dynamic ticket pricing, where prices increase with demand, there is still a desire to provide an accessible ticket entry point to the community, which means ticket prices largely can’t keep up with the rising costs. Some have endowments, but much of that funding has restricted usage.
At Center Theatre Group, CEO Meghan Pressman said the large size of the organization allowed leaders to see the writing on the wall earlier than other theaters. Though they had hoped for a change in trends this spring, attendance at all three theaters in the organization is still down about 20 percent from pre-pandemic levels and subscriptions are down an average of 40 percent. There’s also been a correlated drop in donations.